


Imagine Redux

by fandomlimb



Category: SKAM (Norway), SKAM (TV)
Genre: Canon Rewrite, Even and the Balloon Squad Reunion, Fix It Fic, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-18
Updated: 2017-08-18
Packaged: 2018-12-16 17:56:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,225
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11833998
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fandomlimb/pseuds/fandomlimb
Summary: Even usually has no problem singing in public. He enjoys it, enjoys how karaoke can bring a whole crowded room together, allow strangers to let their guards down and shout at the top of their lungs in off-key unison. But when from the periphery of his vision he sees the door to the bar swing open—letting a beam of sunlight into the room, illuminating the figures of his five ex-best friends—his normally steady voice fails him.---Written for Skam Fic Week - Day 4 - Rewrite a canon scene.





	Imagine Redux

**Author's Note:**

> [Please wave your hands like they do in the Wayne's World](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_76RK_5bBs) and imagine this is how things went down in Season 4 at Syng! Karaoke Bar.

Even usually has no problem singing in public. He enjoys it, enjoys how karaoke can bring a whole crowded room together, allow strangers to let their guards down and shout at the top of their lungs in off-key unison. But when from the periphery of his vision he sees the door to the bar swing open—letting a beam of sunlight into the room, illuminating the figures of his five ex-best friends—his normally steady voice fails him.

He sees them see him. His heart lunges up into his throat, smothering his vocal chords. His voice falters. Shame squeezes his insides painfully in its all too familiar stronghold. The lyrics keep scrolling by, the piano backing track keeps playing, but to Even time stopped the second they walked in and now his brain is stuck in a dread-fear-shame loop. He’s probably imagining it, but it feels like an enchanted hush has fallen over the room, an over amplified quiet, the type that could make your ears bleed.

Then there’s Isak standing next to him. How did he get there? His arm wraps around Even’s shoulder and he squeezes, his body offering reassurance and protection; he leans into the microphone Even’s still managing to hold, and he sings even though he doesn’t really know the song too well. The constriction in Even’s throat loosens when he sees Isak’s encouraging smile, feels the warmth in his lover’s eyes. They sing. The whole throng of people in the bar sings. It’s a beautiful thing, to feel safe in Isak’s arms, to feel the whole room melt away like he and Isak are the only ones there, their two voices the only ones cutting through the din.

He tries to keep his focus just on Isak for the rest of the song, it’s easy to do, Isak’s face and smile being what they are. But he still sees out of the corner of his eye as Mikael leaves the bar before the song is over. Even tries not to let that knowledge affect him, though he’s finding it harder and harder to keep his smile from deserting him. To keep the fact of his shaking legs and rising panic a secret.

The song ends. Even kisses Isak, his lips thanking him because he can’t put it into words everything that Isak means to him, how every day Isak saves him with his kindness and attention and unending wellspring of love and devotion. Even just hopes he’s worthy of returning the love Isak so freely offers him.

“You okay?” Isak whispers.

“Yeah, yeah, fine.” Even smiles, but it must be unconvincingly, because Isak squeezes his hand, rubs their noses together and says, “You sounded great up there. I can’t believe I get to go home every night with such a fucking hot rock star.”

That gets a real smile from Even. They kiss and it’s almost perfect. Except Even knows what’s outside waiting for him. Even looks around the bar, eyes drawn to the door, where his friends (ex-friends) are still congregated. Adam must have gone after Mikael, since he’s nowhere to be found.

“So. I think I should go say hi to those guys.” Even tilts his head toward Elias and Yousef and Mutta.

“You sure? Want me to come with you?”

“Yeah, that would be great. I’d like to introduce you.”

Isak nods. Even keeps Isak’s hand planted firmly in his own as he walks with racing heart toward his old friends. He is flipping through the mental catalogue of every text message they sent him that went unanswered, every voicemail he deleted, every call he blocked.

Elias eyes him warily as he approaches, a cat with his back up. It causes a burst of tight pain in Even’s chest, knowing that if this were a year ago there would be no strangeness between them, that Elias is usually generous with his smiles and friendly physical affection.

Mutta isn’t quite so formal. He lunges toward Even and wraps him in a big bear hug, which manages to include Isak, too.

“Even, my man! What a surprise! Damn, you look great, dude. Looking fly. I like your new hairstyle. Very retro. Hi, I’m Mutta,” he says to Isak, sticking his hand out. Instead of breaking the handhold with Even, Isak uses his left hand to awkwardly reverse hand shake with Mutta, which makes them both laugh.

“I’m Isak, nice to meet you.”

“Great to meet you, man.” Mutta keeps barreling on, eliminating any possibility of an awkward silence, bless him. “So you’re back in our old stomping grounds, huh? Bakka represent! Whoot whoot! Remember how much in 2nd year we used to love this place? Oh my god!!! The rap battle night! That was totally epic! That was the shit, man! Yo Yousef, you and Even gotta get up there and recreate the battle of 2015! Did you know Even can MC like a mofo?” he addresses that last part to Isak.

“Even? MC? Are you fucking with me? He always told me was a shitty beatboxer and rapper.”

“No way, that’s how we all met! Bakka’s revue needed beatboxers and MCs and this skinny ass white dude shows up to the audition and totally slays. For real, all our mouths were like down to the floor. Sorry, I’m being rude, Isak, have you met these two? Probably not. This is Elias and Yousef.”

They both shake Isak’s hand (the right one this time). Even is beginning to think this won’t go so terribly as he'd feared and he hasn’t irrevocably fucked everything up with his former friends, after all.

Then Sana appears next to the group. “Are you scaring away my biology partner, Elias?”

Isak looks thoroughly flummoxed.

“Isak, meet my older brother, Elias. I didn’t think you guys would actually show up.”

Even’s stomach drops. Everything he’s withheld from Isak comes rushing forward in a terrible jumble, like clothes spinning in a dryer. _I didn’t tell him about Mikael. I didn’t tell him I was friends with Sana’s brother. Or that I knew Sana before I transferred. I didn’t tell him why I left Bakka._ _I didn’t tell him about the pills._

“What do you mean you didn’t think we’d show?” Elias says, then shoots Yousef some sort of look Even can’t quite parse out the meaning of. Even just wishes Elias would look him in the eye. Even wishes he could explain why he did what he did, but now isn’t the time.

“Wait, this is your _brother_?” Isak says to Sana, then turns to face Even, confusion and hurt starting to creep over his face. Even takes his hand again, hoping to convey that he understands this is a lot to take in, but he hopes he’ll be patient and just get through this so they can talk things through later, in private.

Sana keeps the conversation light and moving by saying, “Yeah, can’t you see the family resemblance? It should be pretty obvious by now that I got both the good looks and the brains in the family.”

The group goes _“Ohhhh”_ and _“Ouch!”_ and Elias says, “Ok, wow. You get around your super cool school friends and suddenly you’re a stand-up comedian.” He’s smiling, though, and Even remembers well the good-natured teasing that made up the majority of their sibling personas.

She squeezes Elias’s cheek and he bats her away in a lion cub way, smiling. She points to her own cheeks. “See, Isak, we both have the trademarked Bakkoush family dimples.”

“What about my dimples?” Isak points to his own smiling cheeks. “Maybe we’re actually long lost siblings, Sana. That would explain why you’ve always admired me so much.”

Sana scoffs, “Ok, way to liberally rewrite history. There is no way you’re my brother from another mother.”

“Sana, you hurt me so. You break my heart.”

Up until this point Yousef has been quiet, paying attention to the conversation and laughing but not participating. That’s why it surprises Even when he says to Isak, “So, you and Sana, you’re biology partners? Is she as genius in science as she claims to be?”

Then Sana does the thing Even least expects her to do: she blushes.

Isak says, “Well, she’s okay. I mean, I did help her get a 6 last semester but who’s really counting?”

“Excuse me, _you_ helped _me_? Don’t make me go back into our chat history and find all the times you literally begged me to borrow my Bio notes because you were too busy falling madly in love with his guy here to pay any attention in class.”

Now it’s Isak’s turn to blush, and Even can’t help it, it’s still the most adorable thing he’s ever seen, so he pulls Isak into a hug and smothers his cheek with kisses.

The whole group _awwwws_ and Elias asks, “So when did you start dating?”

Even says, “This fall,” at the same says time that Isak says, “Unofficially, the night before Halloween”, and they smile at each other, which brings another chorus of _awwwws_ from everyone.

Sana says, “You two really need to stop being so adorable all the time. It’s really not fair for the rest of us.”

“You’re adorable, Sana,” Even says and pats her back.

“Yes, definitely,” Yousef says. And would you look at that, Sana’s cheeks are bright red again. In fact, Sana has been smiling suspiciously a lot this whole time.

Even asks Elias, Yousef and Mutta, “So, are you guys planning to stick around for awhile? Sing a few songs, maybe? I’m really happy to see you. I’m sorry, for well. I just mean, it’s really great to see you guys. It’d be nice to catch up properly, too. I really mean that.”

“Thanks, man,” Yousef says as Mutta launches into another bear hug enveloping Isak and Even and Sana, too.

Elias says, “Yeah, this is really great. Um, maybe we should all step out and talk for a bit. Mikael’s outside with Adam. There’s something he probably wants to talk to you about.” He shoots Yousef an inscrutable look, and all of a sudden Even is nervous again.

“Is everything okay with Mikael?”

“Oh yeah, yeah, totally. Yeah.”

Yousef says, “Actually, I think I might stay inside and sing a song or two. What do you think about a duet, Sana?” he asks and quirks up an eyebrow.

“Um, no singing, absolutely not.”

“Come on, please? Let’s go look at the songbook. Come on. Come on.” He takes her hand and drags her off, both of them smiling. Something is definitely going on with those two.

Elias smiles after them, shaking his head. Then says to Mutta, “You know what, I think I’ll get a soda from the bar real quick, what do you think, Mutta?”

“About what?”

“About getting a soda with me. Then meeting them outside in a minute?”

“I’m not thirsty, though.” Then some unspoken understanding passes between them and Mutta says, “Yeah, you’re right, gotta stay hydrated, it’s one of the foundations for a happy and healthy body and mind. We’ll just get a drink and meet you outside.”

Now Even is beginning to worry again. The guys are definitely acting shifty all of a sudden. A knot twists in his stomach. It’s probably because they know about what happened between him and Mikael and they want to give him a wide berth and some privacy for their inevitably awkward and overdue reunion.

Isak must sense the tension brimming over Even’s face again because he puts his arm around his shoulder and says, “I’d love to meet him finally. Mikael, I mean.”

Even nods and they leave the bar together, holding hands.

Outside, it takes a second for Even’s eyes to adjust to the brightness of the daylight. Even though the bar has windows, it’s still jarring to leave the loud, dim bar and step out into the golden late afternoon.

Even spots Adam and Mikael, they’re just down a flight of steps, standing next to each other on the riverwalk path. Even squeezes Isak’s hand even tighter as they head toward them. Adam’s arm is draped around Mikael’s shoulder; they’re facing the river so Even can’t see their faces as they approach.

“Hey guys,” Even says.

Mikael and Adam turn around, and to Even’s great relief they both smile and move in to give him a big hug as a greeting.

“Even, my man, wow. Wow. I’m really glad to see you,” Mikael says after he releases Even from the longest hug in history.

“This is Isak; Isak, this is Mikael. And Adam,” Even says and the boys all shake hands.

They all look at each other for a minute in weighted silence. The silence drags on for longer than is comfortable but Even doesn’t know where to begin. Even is so jumpy and nervous it takes him a second to register that Adam and Mikael are holding hands. Even can’t help staring at their joined hands and then back up to their faces, which are both alight with smiles and mischief.

Mikael blushes when he sees that Even has seen. Adam whispers something in his ear that makes them both giggle. Both of them smile and Mikael says, “Yeah, Even, wow, I’m really glad to see you, man. There’s something I’d like to tell you…”


End file.
